Labour has held onto a Barking and Dagenham council seat following Thursday night’s (20 February) by-election. Rubina Siddiqui is the new Labour Cllr for Whalebone ward, having won 54.92per cent of the vote with 625 votes.
Cllr Siddiqui will join fellow Labour Cllrs, Andrew Achilleos and Mukhtar Yusuf to represent Whalebone ward. Angelica Olawepo from the Conservatives came second with 287 votes, while Tope Olawoyin from the Green Party came third with 117 votes.
Herbert Munangatire from the Lib Dems finished close behind the Greens with 109 votes, ultimately finishing in fourth place. Whalebone ward has an electorate of 9,275 people, with last night’s by-election seeing a voter turnout of 12.33per cent.
The by-election was triggered following the death of serving Cllr Glenda Paddle on Wednesday, 13 November. Glenda had represented Whalebone ward since 2018 and had served as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee since 2022.
Cllrs paid tribute to ‘selfless’ Glenda during a full council meeting in November 2024. Dominic Twomey, Leader of the Council, said at the time that Glenda’s passing was a shock, and had left a ‘huge void’ within the council and the local community.
Cllr Twomey said: “The thing about Glenda is that she was recognised in everything she did because she did it to the utmost of her ability. She was selfless, that length of time of volunteering in the community with schools, supporting people through her union work and being that voice for people that didn’t have a voice and weren’t able to put things across is absolutely remarkable.”
Barking and Dagenham Council is currently made up of 50 Labour Cllrs and one Independent Cllr.
